when i moved here, phantoms of possible displacement and gentrification were already mocking me. gray buildings with neon rice bowls stare back at me on wilshire and vermont. i can't know what existed before there.
starting my part time work, this is part of the process. we went to one building, out in "the field" and we came across a phantom. it was an already remodeled space. the story comes out that this was a place where management had paid former residents a sum of undisclosed money (seemingly a lot, but still researching how ill-legal) to move out, so they could renovate. whereas the original guess was 10-12 families we once knew there, now there were about 5 families.
we went to another street. and its starting to come alive. i've heard about echo park. and we've been talking about koreatown now. (wealthier) people who commute want to live closer to work, and so these places have become their prime new location and playground. oftentimes, then, the (poorer) communities who have been living there for 10 to 15 years are being pushed out with silly evictions, false charges or unfixed, soon to be unhabitable buildings that landlords hope to condemn, to rebuild.
today, on this one unnamed street, i saw it. one, two, three, four buildings being remodeled. i wonder what are the stories there. if its like other cases, other clients, at other community based organizations, then, i'm sure it wasn't pretty.
